Brands hold an important part of history for these Queensland beef operations

Some may see a cattle brand as a practical tool, a form of identification, but for many families, they've become an heirloom, passed down for generations.

According to Biosecurity Queensland, there are currently 68,688 three-piece brands and 13,846 symbol brands registered, as of February 2022.

A Biosecurity Queensland spokesperson said records indicate there were many cattle brands that were first registered in 1872.

Queensland Country Life caught up with some cattle operations that are still operating brands that were registered in the 1880s.

For the Lewis family of Monto, their brand is an important part of their family history.

In 1880, William Thomas Lewis selected land at Moolboolaman, near Gin Gin.

On June 18, 1880, Mr Thomas Lewis acquired the firebrand NX6 and it has been used continuously in the Lewis family for nearly 143 years.

In 1888, Williams opened the Mount Pleasant Hotel which was also the Lewis family home.

To obtain the hotel licence, Mr Lewis also had to provide stables, yards and a blacksmith.

For some time, Moolboolaman was the end of the railway line and a stop off for the Gaeta Mines, so the hotel became a busy place.

People would travel from Gaeta by horse to the Mount Pleasant Hotel, stay the night and then travel by train to Bundaberg.

The return journey would require another overnight stay at the Mount Pleasant Hotel before returning to Gaeta.

In 1908, the Mount Pleasant Hotel closed and it became a boarding house until 1914.

During this time, William Thomas and his son Thomas William acquired a total of 16,000 acres for cattle grazing in the Moolboolaman district.

At present, the brand is registered to William and Julie Lewis of Fairview, Monto and currently used within their commercial herd.

Ms Lewis said the NX6 brand is their oldest family brand.

"When it's used in our herd, it is a reminder of our forefathers and everyone who has used it before us," she said.

"It's part of a collection of brands held by the Lewis family and is still in use today.

The Lewis family currently run a small Charbray stud called Diamond Dove Charbrays in conjunction with a commercial breeding and fattening herd.

Ms Lewis said the brand would be passed onto their grandchildren.

"In due course, it will be transferred to William's granddaughter Marnie Brennan, the great, great, great granddaughter of the original owner," she said.

Merluna station's three piece brand XN0 was registered on July 4, 1876 to Sydney Watson.

Now registered to Cameron and Michelle MacLean, the brand is still alive and well on their Cape property.

Ms MacLean said there have been a couple of prominent families which have owned Merluna over the years.

"We have had quite a few Watson descendants return for a visit as well as Sir Graham McCamley, whose grandfather owned it briefly in 1914," she said.

"The Queensland government took it up in 1916 and it was at the time part of a consortium of 28 pastoral leases bought by the state known as "The State Stations".

"Looking at the registry, you can also see when a bank loan was secured and a mortgage taken out over the brand. It reverted to the Bank then upon the sale it briefly went back to the vendor before being transferred to the new owner."

Ms MacLean said in 1876, when the Gregory Downs Watsons were making their way west from Townsville, their father, Grandie, had stayed back and taken over Townsville Station and registered the brand XNO after his four-year-old son Xenophon.

"He returned soon after to Walwa Station on the Upper Murray, then known as the Hume," she said.

"Many years later, this XNO brand was transferred to Merluna on Cape York, where it is still in use today."

Fourth generation cattleman John Cotter and his wife Ellen of Kinbombi, run 900 breeders over 5263 hectares, east of Goomeri.

Their three piece brand, 6LX, will turn 143-years-old this year.

The brand was registered by John's great grandfather, Michael Cotter, in Gympie on April 11, 1880.

"The brand was used at Glastonbury and transferred to my grandfather William Cotter on 18^th of March, 1897 and used at Widgee and at Kinbombi, when the property was selected in 1895," Mr Cotter said.

"It was transferred to my aunt, Agness, on 11 May, 1949, and continued to be used at Kinbombi.

"It was passed down to me on the 7^th of November, 1966 and is still in use at Kinbombi and our other properties.

Mr Cotter said these brands are a very intergalactic part of the development of the industry in Queensland.

A 143-year-old cattle brand first registered by a carpenter and wagon horse breeder in 1880, is still active on a central Queensland property to this day.

The three piece brand, 4 target E, will turn 143 years-old in October this year and it's registered owners, the Randell family have recently been exploring it's deep history as an iconic brand operated in Queensland.

The brand was first registered on October 1, 1880 by William Hatfield at St Lawrence.

Mr Hatfield was a carpenter and a wagon horse breeder and he left the brand to his wife, Elizabeth, on April 17, 1903.

Jason Randell and his son Jonas still use the brand at Mt Stuart Station near Capella, to this day.